U.S. Officials Find Tunnel Running From Arizona Church Into Mexico

NOGALES, Ariz. — A wet, hand-dug tunnel with dirt walls has been found stretching from an abandoned church in the United States across the border into Mexico.

The tunnel, within yards of a U.S. Customs Service office in Nogales, was never completed or used, federal officials said. It is the third cross-border passage discovered by customs agents--the second in Arizona.

The passage is about three feet in diameter and leads 37 feet southeast from under a Nogales church to an Arizona road running parallel to the border with Mexico.

From there, it runs 20 feet east and connects to a sewer drain that runs the remaining 100 yards into Mexico.

The tunnel at one point is too narrow for a person to pass through, though it could have been used for drugs or other contraband, said Terry Kirkpatrick, a customs agent in Nogales.

Awilda Villafane, another customs official, said the tunnel was made by “burrowing . . . like a gopher would have, and it was very crude.”

Whoever dug the tunnel abandoned it recently because of heavy rain that caused a cave-in. Investigators had been monitoring its construction for about 90 days after receiving a tip.

Saji Vettiyil, a Nogales lawyer, said the church had been rented from a client of his in January for one year at $2,500 a month.

The renters said they planned to use the building for an office and the back yard for selling cars, he said.